There will be no in-person jury trials in Flagler County until at least January 19 due to the very high incidence of coronavirus cases in the county. The county in the week ending last Saturday broke yet another record in confirmed cases for the previous seven days, with a total of 270, and a cumulative total exceeding 3,500.
Health & Society
More Than 1,000 Covid Vaccines Arrive at Flagler Health Department, Inoculations of 1st Responders Start Tuesday
The Flagler County Health Department on Monday took delivery of more than 1,000 vials of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Inoculations begin Tuesday and Wednesday with first responders and health care workers. It’s still not exactly known when doses will arrive for people 65 and over, who are next in line for the vaccine, but it’ll be soon.
Ahead of Frigid Christmas Nights, Beachfront Grille Cooks Up 150 Meals for Homeless and Needy
Beachfront Grille in Flagler Beach teamed up with the Sheltering Tree, the cold-weather shelter for the homeless, and Mayor Linda Provencher to provide 150 Christmas meals for the homeless and the needy.
DeSantis Names 5 to Halifax Health Board of Commissioners
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the re-appointment of Glenn Ritchey, Carl “Rick” Lentz and Ed Connor to the Halifax Health Board of Commissioners, as well as the appointment of Alan Florez and Michael Munier to the seven-member board, which oversees Halifax hospital in Daytona Beach.
Going Against CDC, DeSantis Orders Vaccine Priority for 65 and Older, Not Teachers and Other Essential Workers
The DeSantis order contradicts Centers for Disease Control guidelines issued on Tuesday that recommend that, once health care and long-term care workers and residents have received the vaccine, the next groups should not be defined only by age, but also by critical front-line jobs, including teachers and school employees, and underlying conditions.
Local Governments Seek Re-Hearing in Federal Case That Allowed ‘Conversion Therapy’ Targeting LGBTQ Youths
Local Florida ordinances that a federal court found unconstitutional had barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Internal Tally Puts Flagler’s Covid Deaths at 50, Two More Than Public Dashboard; 4 Connected to Social Club
The internal Florida Health Department spreadsheet, obtained by FlaglerLive, consolidates some previously undisclosed information and much information that had been disclosed to some extent in different ways and places previously.
As Biden Gets Sworn In, White House Will Get Deepest Scrub-Down
The General Services Administration will oversee a thorough cleaning and disinfection of every doorknob, toilet handle, light switch, stair railing, telephone, elevator button, computer keyboard and other objects inside the 55,000-square-foot mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Fired Analyst Rebekah Jones Sues FDLE Over Search of Her Home
Attorneys for fired Florida Department of Health analyst Rebekah Jones, who has drawn national attention for her battles with the DeSantis administration, argued in the lawsuit that a search warrant to enter her home Dec. 7 “was obtained in bad faith and with no legitimate object or purpose.”
Covid Deaths in Flagler at 47, Week’s Positive Cases Shatter Record in Evidence of Thanksgiving Spike as Vaccines Arrive
The 220 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in Flagler County in the week ending Saturday set a new single-week record in the county since the pandemic began in February. Local health officials caution that the numbers may get worse with Christmas and cold weather ahead, and broad-based vaccination still weeks away.
Covid Testing Schedule and Locations in Flagler-Palm Coast Through the End of the Year
The Florida Department of Health in Flagler County reaffirmed its weekday Covid-19 testing schedule for the weeks leading up to and following the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Covid-19 Vaccinations Begin at AdventHealth Daytona Beach
None of the vaccines are available to the general public yet because of limited supply, with some estimates predicting that it will be more available in the spring.
In Predominantly Black Hospital, Only a Third of Employees Sign Up for Covid Vaccine
Although hesitancy toward the vaccine is a challenge nationally, it’s a significant problem among Black adults because of their generations-long distrust of the medical community and racial inequities in health care.
Court’s Conservatives Are Right: Pandemic Limits on Houses of Worship Are Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning its own recent precedent to forbid attendance limits at houses of worship because of Covid was not an ideological decision so much as a victory for the First Amendment that liberals should be thankful for.
AdventHealth Marks ‘Milestone Week’ of Covid-19 Vaccinations
Capping a fast-moving and historic week in medical history, AdventHealth leaders shared optimism, celebrated triumphs, and continued their focus on administering vaccines to help conquer Covid-19.
On Eve of Tom Russell Memorial, School Board’s McDonald Downplays Covid Deaths and Calls for ‘Backing Off This Fear’ of Virus
Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald falsely claimed at a workshop that overall deaths are down this year, that masks are harmful, testing unreliable, and that the district should focus on “wellness” rather than additionally “ramp-up” safety measures. She did so days from the memorial for Tom Russell, the FPC principal who died of complications from Covid.
Flagler Schools Will Replace Most Covid-Positive Alert Letters With Web-Based Dashboard Updated Daily
A new dashboard tracking positive Covid cases throughout the school district will go live Jan. 4. Parents and others have grown increasingly jaded with the Flagler school district’s drizzle of notification letters whenever positive Covid cases are confirmed.
New Training Program Addresses Post-Traumatic Stress in Law Enforcement Officers Across Florida
Officers are frequently exposed to violence and suffering while on duty, and experiencing extremely stressful events not only causes emotional stress, but can impact the brain and body, resulting in post-traumatic stress. However, officers often don’t recognize or have the tools to handle their own needs related to witnessing these stressful events.
‘Each Day Matters’: Covid Vaccinations Start at Nursing Homes in Florida
Florida received 179,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week. About 100,000 were sent to five Florida hospitals, and tens of thousands of doses went to CVS and Walgreens, which signed agreements with the federal government to vaccinate residents and staff members at long-term care facilities.
At Government Services Building, a Covid Cluster Closes Flagler Property Appraiser Office All Week
Property Appraiser Jay Gardner said at least three people were confirmed positive in an office of 25 employees (other employees work in the field and are not affected), though he said “that number could be wrong because some of them might not have told us.”
Trevor Tucker, in Remarkable Shift, Provides 3-2 Majority to Add ‘Gender Identity’ to Long-Sought School Protections
The Flagler County School Board this evening reversed its April vote and added “gender identity” to its anti-discrimination policy, ending a year-long and at times controversial and embittered debate over the identity and rights of LGBTQ students.
Cell Tower Proposal at Palm Harbor Golf Club Delayed After Intense Opposition and Questions of Location
The decision to table the proposal until January 19 followed almost an hour of tense, at times embittered public comment and interactions with Mayor Milissa Holland, including the threat of a lawsuit, as opponents claimed the city or its contractor had illegally moved the proposed location.
Florida’s Medicaid Costs and Enrollment Are Spiraling in Pandemic, Posing Challenge for State Budget
Economists projected that Medicaid costs in the current fiscal year, which started July 1, will total $31.6 billion, which is about 19 percent higher than during the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Hospitals Scramble to Prioritize Which Workers Are First for Scarce Covid Vaccine
An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that top priority go to long-term care facilities and front-line health care workers, but the early allocation was always expected to fall far short of the need and require selective screening even among critical hospital workers.
Grand Jury Rips Florida’s Mental Health System, Citing ‘Deficiencies in Funding, Leadership and Services’
The statewide grand jury studying school safety said in the report that it is “clear to us that inadequately addressed mental health issues have the peculiar potential to spiral out over time into criminal acts and violent behavior resulting in serious injury and loss of life.”
As Covid Deaths Reach 46 in Flagler, Local Officials Detail Vaccination Plans and Refute Anti-Vaxxers’ Disinformation
Dr. Stephen Bickel and Bob Snyder of the Flagler Health Department outlined the logistics of vaccinating all residents and refuted disinformation about the dangers of vaccines, describing how individuals may feel after getting vaccinated and what the chances are of having adverse reactions.
Project Share, Flagler Beach Rotary’s Christmas Gift-Giving to 1,000 Children, Needs Your Help in a Difficult Year
Rotary Club of Flagler Beach Project Share is now in its 22nd year of providing toys, clothing and bicycles to families in need at Christmas. But Covid-19 has impacted just about everything this year, and Project Share’s ability to raise funds for the annual Christmas toy drive is no exception.
Democrats Attack DeSantis Handling of Covid as Unemployment Claims, Cases and Deaths Rise
Democratic senators renewed pleas for the governor’s office to provide more data about the impact of the virus on the state’s health-care industry and to lift a limitation on the ability of local governments to enforce coronavirus regulations such as mask mandates.
Appeals Court Tosses GOP Challenge to Mask Mandate in Leon, But Doesn’t Address Constitutional Issues
Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a statewide mask mandate. He also issued an executive order in September that suspended collection of fines and penalties related to violations of mask requirements, but that did not prevent local governments from continuing to have the requirements.
Officials Discredit False Rumors About FPC Principal Tom Russell as His Covid Battle Continues
Sometime on Monday a rumor started flying around Volusia County that Tom Russell, the Flagler Palm Coast High School principal and former Volusia County superintendent, had died. By evening the rumor was rampant in Flagler County as well. The rumor, which has upset Russell’s family, is false.
State Police Raid Home of Rebekah Jones, Ex-Florida Health Department Whistleblower on Covid Stats
Rebekah Jones was fired earlier this year after complaining that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration was manipulating Covid-19 data to make the virus appear less prevalent as the governor pushed to reopen Florida’s economy.
43rd Flagler Resident Dies of Covid; Local Covid Hospitalizations at 15; Fire Chief Out Sick, County Refuses to Say Who’s In Charge
Some 47 Palm Coast city government employees are currently out either directly or indirectly affected by Covid, but the county is refusing to disclose numbers, or say who’s leading the fire department, whose interim chief, Joe King, has been out with a covid diagnosis.
Flagler’s Cold-Weather Homeless Shelter, In New Home, Opens for 15 Guests With a Few Dollars’ Help from Local Governments
Flagler County’s only cold-weather shelter for the homeless moved from its old location after 12 years to Church on the Rock on U.S. 1, where it operated for the first time this year, on Monday and Tuesday nights, with security, privacy from formerly resentful neighbors, and elbow room to spare.
Flagler Sees Highest 2-Week Tally Yet as Covid Hits School, County and City Leaders and Passes 1 Million Mark in State
Leaders in Palm Coast, the Flagler County Fire Department and the district’s largest school are battling Covid-19 in a two-week stretch that’s also seen the highest number of infections in schools, where the plan is to continue the option of remote learning past Christmas.
We Need a Crisis-Proof Safety Net for Parents
The collapse of child care and traditional schooling is having a devastating effect on women in particular. Part of the problem is just plain sexism. But another part is more complicated.
Florida (and Flagler) Can Thank ‘Luck’ as Most Active Hurricane Season on Record Ends Monday
In a season that overlapped the coronavirus pandemic, most storms spun away from Florida, sparing communities double-barreled crises of responding to a major storm while contending with restrictions and safety concerns imposed by the coronavirus.
Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.
Eleven states let school districts decide whether students and staff must wear masks. One Georgia middle school where masks were optional–only about half of the children wore them–became the center of an outbreak.
Oral Arguments on Alachua’s Mask Mandate Evoke Hijabs, Nazis, KKK, Crime and, Finally, Public Health
Oral arguments about Alachua County’s mask mandate before a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal Monday was a spectacle of audacious leaps and strange analogies that nevertheless illustrated the sharp and far from resolved divide between mask proponents and anti-maskers, including on the judicial bench.
‘That Covid Kicked My Butt’: Flagler Infections Reach 2nd-Highest Weekly Total, 32 in Schools
Flagler County has the 10th-lowest average in the last seven days among Florida’s 67 counties. But those are relative and deceptive numbers that appear better only in relation to much worse numbers elsewhere. In the absolute local numbers remain dismal–and dangerous–by any measure.
Court’s Trump Appointees Strike Down Florida Bans on Bigoted ‘Conversion Therapy’ Aimed at LGBTQ Children
Two South Florida ordinances barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The federal court ruled against the ban on First Amendment grounds.
How the ‘Massive’ Rollout of the Covid Vaccine Will Happen in Phases in Flagler and Palm Coast This Spring
Health care workers and first responders will get the vaccine first, followed by residents at large. The health department will use the same infrastructure it uses for Covid-19 testing, but on a more massive scale–assuming the more than 112,000 doses needed to approach herd immunity in Flagler are available by spring.
Flagler Public Health Director Echoes Strong CDC Directives Against Travel at Thanksgiving as Covid Surges
Bob Snyder, who heads the Flagler health department, has been warning for weeks that the combination of holiday gatherings, cooler weather and more indoor activities would result in quicker spread of the disease at a time when community spread is already out of control in much of the country and not exactly under control in Flagler.
FPC Principal Tom Russell Reveals Covid Diagnosis as Cases Rise and State Extends Remote School Option To June
Russell’s revelation occurs as cases in Flagler and in Florida are rising sharply and the surge cascading over much of the nation, now reaching catastrophic proportions in many states, is beginning to ripple in Florida, where the state agreed to extend remote-learning options in all schools through June.
From Bogus Cures to ‘Frontline Doctors’: When False Covid Information Goes Viral
False or unverified information spreading through online support groups and by way of conspiracy theorists mislead patients, undermine trust in science and medicine in general, and lead to reckless behavior that exacerbates the pandemic’s toll.
One Undisputed Winner on Election Night: Marijuana
Majorities of Americans decided in favor of every marijuana-related proposition placed before them — a clean sweep — and they did so by record margins, whether to cultivate pot, use it recreationally or use it medicinally.
Covid Hospitalizations Up 25% in 2 Weeks Statewide, Flagler Cases Above 100 for 3rd Week In a Row
As Gov. Ron DeSantis adopts a dangerous policy of letting the coronavirus run its course to build herd immunity, case loads are steadily rising in Florida and remain high in Flagler, suggesting that the surge experienced across the country will likely cascade over Florida with colder weather and more indoor activities.
Affordable Care Act is Back at the Supreme Court, With 2 Million Floridians’ Health Coverage at Risk
The Supreme Court today at 10 a.m. hears oral arguments in a case that, for the third time in eight years, could result in the justices striking down the Affordable Care Act. It would affect 1.9 million Floridians, by far the largest number of enrollees in any state.
Appeals Court Will Hear Challenge to Alachua County’s Mask Mandate
The Alachua County case, which will be heard Nov. 23 by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, could serve as a test for mask requirements that have been approved in various parts of the state.
How Escalating Covid Cases Forced Conservative Montana to Change Its Masking Strategy
When appealing to people’s better nature and sense of community didn’t work, Montana officials began a steady escalation: adding in guilt, then public shaming, and now attempts to punish. Still, there’s little evidence that minds are being changed, and a new Republican governor-elect, Greg Gianforte, will take over in January after campaigning more on “personal responsibility” than on state-issued mandates.
Flagler Health Department’s Covid Testing and Flu Shot Sites for November 7 through 14
Here’s the most current information on covid-19 and flu-shot locations and times across Flagler County, as provided by the Flagler County Health Department.